GUWAHATI, Sept 1: A day after resigning from All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Bhawanipur MLA Phanidhar Talukdar formally joined the ruling BJP on Wednesday.
State BJP president Bhabesh Kalita welcomed Talukdar to the party during a joining ceremony at the party headquarters in Hengrabari here.
Talukdar, who had won this year’s Assembly election as a first-time MLA from AIUDF, had stated in his resignation letter on Tuesday that he withdrew from the primary membership of the party “in the larger interest of the people of his constituency and the people of Assam”.
After joining the ruling party, the former secretary of the AIUDF legislature party, said he was attracted to the ideology of BJP and the work done by the chief minister since the new government took charge in May this year.
“Besides, being in the ruling party, I can serve the people of my constituency better and work to develop Bhawanipur,” he said.
Talukdar is the third sitting legislator from an Opposition party, after Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain (both from Congress) to have resigned from their parties and joined the saffron party since winning the Assembly polls in May.
He was also the only Hindu among the 16 legislators of the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF, which primarily enjoys the support of the Bengali-speaking Muslims in the state.
With Talukdar’s resignation, AIUDF’s strength in the Assembly has come down to 15 legislators
Prior to his joining BJP, Talukdar met Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who welcomed him to the party.
Associated with the Assam Agitation’s first martyr, Khargeswar Talukdar, Bhawanipur LAC has been represented by the AIUDF since 2011.
The chief minister expressed happiness and hoped that Talukdar would get re-elected to the seat in the bypolls with the support and cooperation of the alliance partners.